Improvement in machines for hulling rice



H. B. STEVENS.

` A Machines for Hulling Rice. No.145,693.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY B. STEVENS, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE L. SQUIER, OFSAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR HULLING RICE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N o. 145,693, datedDecember 16, 1873; application filed July 2, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY B. STEVENS, of the city of Bualo, in thecounty of Erie and State of New York, have invented an Improved Machinefor Hulling Rice, Coffee, and other seeds and grains, of which thefollowing is a specification:

As my improved machine is more especially designed for hulling rice, Iwill describe my machine as applied to this purpose.

The object of my invention is to produce a machine that can be easilyoperated by handpower when required, by which the hulling process can beeasily and rapidly carried on without heating or breaking the grains orinjuring the enamel. For this purpose I found wood, or wood and rubbercombined, to be the materials best adapted for the purpose. Theinvention relates to the use and application of wood, or wood and rubbercombined, for the hulling-sin-faces, also, to an improved method ofdressing` the rubbing-surfaces to permit a reciprocating rotary motionbeinggiven to the runner, and also to an improved construction of partsby which the runner and its shaft can be readily removed withoutdetaching the pinion mounted on the latter.

'In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a central vertical section ofmy improved machine. Fig. 2 is a front elevation; Fig. 3, a plan Fig. 4,a face view of one of the rubbingsurfaces; Fig. 5, a detached sectionalview in line of chord a* w.

Like letters of reference designate like parts in each of the figures.

A represents three posts or uprights, and

.A' A cross-pieces connecting the same, and

forming .the triangular frame of the machine. B is the runner of thehuller, mounted on the shaft O, the lower end of which has its bearingin a step, o. D is a horizontal drivingshaft, provided with bevel-gearwheel e, en-

- gaging with bevel-pinion f on shaft O. g is a lever or arm attached tothe outer end of the driving-shaft, by which the machine can be operatedby hand. H is the stationary hulling block or disk, arranged above therunner, and

held in place and against rotary motion by studs or pins i in the upperend of the posts, which fit loosely in holes formed in the lugs or earsh of the block H. The upper bearing j of the shaft of the runner isformed in the cross-bar of the eye of the block H. 7c is a set-screw,screwing into the top of the bearing j, by means of which the weight ofthe block H, when of large size, may be partially supported. This screwis made hollo\v,`for the purpose of conveying oil to the spindle O. L isthe curve or case of the runner, and Ll is the bottom thereof, providedwith an opening, l. To the under side of the runner is attached one ormore wings, m, for sweeping the grain from the case into thedischarge-opening n. o is the discharge-spout, arranged to slide in waysp p onthe under side of the bottom L', the end of the hopper beingslotted to receive the shaft, as shown in' Figs. l and 2. The block H,being held in place simply by the pins c', can bereadily lifted off whendesired. By withdrawing th'e discharge-spout the runner and its shaftcan be readily removed without detaching the pinion, the opening l inthe bottom of the case being made sufficiently large for the purpose.

The runner B and block H may be formed entirely of wood, or of wood withstrips or blocks of rubber arranged in recesses in the faces thereof butfor the purpose of cheapening the manufacture of the huller, increasingits durability, facilitating repairs, and preventing the hulling-blocksfrom checking or splitting in tropical countries, I provide metallicframes b and h', divided by radial arms u u into sections or pockets, inwhich the separate blocks of wood or rubber S S are tted, the surfacesof which project slightly beyond the casting, with their edges beveledoif, as shown at s1 s1, Figs. 4 and 5, these divisionbars a u, betweenthe adjacent edges or sides of the blocks, forming, in connection withthe beveled sides of the blocks S, radial grooves in the hulling-faces.

As the sectional blocks S become worn, they can be raised or broughtforward by placing strips of metal, wood, or other material between themand the ledges of the frame on which they rest 5 or set-screws may bearranged in these ledges to adjust the blocks outward. These sections ofblocks S may all be composed of wood, or one or more of these blocks maybe made of rubber, as shown at el, Fig. 4; or

strips s2 s2 may be arranged along the radial sides of the blocks, orblocks s3 s3 may be fitted in holes or recesses in the blocks S, as alsoshown in Fig. 4; or the rubber may be arranged in any other suitableway, so that the rubbingsurfaces shall be composed of wood and rubbercombined.

The blocks or hullers are made a little concave in the center to assistin feeding, and the grooves are preferably made deeper at the center ofthe block than at the circumference. The upper block H rests with itswhole weight upon the runner, and is permitted by the guide-pins i' torise and fall freely, to accommodate itself to the quantity of grainpassing through the mill, or to any unevenncss in the face of therunner.

Vith small hullers, the block H can be supplied with weights, to insurethe requisite pressure upon the grain, while in large machines thepressure can be reduced by the setscrew k, as above described.

The grain to be hulled is fed into the eye of the upper stone through ahopper, IV, whence it passes between the contiguous surfaces of therunner and block H, where it is subjected to a rubbing action thereofuntil it escapes at their periphery into the case L, from whence it isswept, by the wing m, through the opening Z in the bottom thereofthrough the spout, and conducted from the machine by the discharge-spouto. I prefer the end of the grain of the wood as a rubbing-surface forthe huller on account of its greater durability and efficiency. Ihavemade therubbing-surfaees plane or ungrooved and found them tooperate reason ably well; and I have also dressed them after the mannerof millstones, and given the runner a continued rotary motion when thusdressed and when undressed, but have found, from repeated experiments,that the best results can be attained by dressing the hulling-surfacesin the manner shown in the drawings, and imparting to the runner areciprocating rotary motion, which can be readily effected in a handVmachine by simply oscillating the lever g. The

radial grooves in the hulling-surfaces assist in feeding the grain, andserve to roll over or change the position of the grain as the motion ofthe runner is reversed. They also form spaces in which the separation ofthe hulls from the kernels is facilitated.

In machines of small size I prefer to combine rubber and wood in formingthe hulling-surfaces, as the rubber, by its greater adherence to thehulls of the grain, facilitates the rolling and reversal of the positionof the grain and the separation of the husks therefrom. In machines oflarger size thc wood alone performs the required work in a satisfactorymanner, and the rubber in such machines may be dispensed with by thosewho desire to avoid the greater expense resulting from its use. I havealso used the upper block as a runner, and have experimented byrevolving the runner at a high speed and at a low speed, and find thatthe best results are attained by using Mates he lower disk as the runnerand imparting to it a comparatively slow motion, whether that motion bea continuous rotary one or a recip rocating rotary motion. The lattermotion gives to the grain a zigzag motion as it passes through the mill,turning and rolling it in all directions, thus eeetually breaking thehulls and detaching them from the grain.

Motion may be communicated to the runner in various ways; the simplestand cheapest way is to attach a handle to the runner, but I prefer todrive the block by gearing, as above described. The two gear-wheelshaving an unequal number of cogs, the hulling-blocks, if inclined towear unevenly, can have the relative position of the wearing surfaceschanged, so as to equalize the wear thereof, by rotating the runnercontinuously for one or more revolutions.

My improved huller, in addition to its cheapness, simplicity ofconstruction, du ability, and facility with which it can be repaired andoperated by hand or other power, performs its work of hulling withrapidity, the surface of the wood and rubber being of sufficienthardness to rub oft' the hull without materially grinding or injuringthe enamel or breaking the grain, as is the case when iron or stone isemployed for the hulling-surfaces.

That I claim as my invention is i l. A hulling-mill in which the hullingor rubbing surfaces are composed of wood, arranged so that the end ofthe grain thereby will form the rubbing or hulling surfaces,substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. Ahulling-mill in which one or both of the rubbing-surfaces arecomposed of wood, with strips or blocks of rubber arranged therein tofacilitate the rolling or changing of the post tion ofthe kernel, as andfor the purposes set forth.

3. In a hullingmill, the combination of the metallic frame b', formedwith a series of radial pockets for the reception of removable wooden orrubber blocks, substantially as shown and described.

4. A hulling-mill in which the rubbing-surfaces of the runner aredressed with radial grooves, both sides of which are equally inclined,for the purpose of permitting a reciprocating rotary motion being givento the runner, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

5. The combination, with the stationary hulling-block H, of the runnerB, having a reciprocatin g rotary motion, whereby a reversed andtwisting movement is imparted to the grain, thus changing thepresentment of the grain to t-he hullin g-surfaces, substantially asdescribed.

6. The bottom L of the case, provided with openingl and removabledischarge-spout o, to permit of the removal of the runner withoutdetaching the bevel-wheel, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

HENRY B. STEVENS.

Wtnesses:

JN0. J. BoNNnR, EDWARD ViLHnLM.

